Food prepared for and offered to Krishna with love and devotion becomes completely spiritualized. Such food is called Krishna prasadam, which means “the mercy of Lord Krishna.”

Lord Caitanya said of prasadam…”now that they have been prepared for Krishna and offered to Him with devotion, these foods have acquired extraordinary tastes and uncommon fragrances. Just taste them and see the difference! Apart from the taste, even the fragrance pleases the mind and makes one forget any other fragrance. Therefore, it should be understood that the spiritual nectar of Krishna’s lips must have touched these ordinary foods and imparted to them all their transcendental qualities.”

Eating only food offered to Krishna is the perfection of vegetarianism. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says that unless one eats only food that has been offered to Him in sacrifice, one will suffer the reactions of karma. He also states, “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I will accept it.”

“The Hare Krsna Cookbook”, originally published in 1973, was the first widely distributed book of vegetarian recipes, throughout the Movement. This was the book myself and many early devotees learned to cook from, and remains today my all time favorite cookbook, and is a constant companion in our kitchen. We offer the complete book on a PDF Format as a gift to all our readers this Holiday Season.

Dedication

Prasadam means mercy, and this Prasadam Cookbook is dedicated to the fountainhead of all mercy, the spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He is by nature kind to every living entity, but that ocean of mercy becomes fully visible in his devotees.

Srila Prabhupada has not given us some dry, canned philosophy to chew; he has given us the nectar for which we have sought so long: he has taught us how to render transcendental loving service to the Lord in all our daily activities. This book illustrates on of them.

The Process of Krsna Consciousness is usually described as one of dinging, dancing and feasting. We have already demonstrated to the world how anyone can sing and dance to the holy names of God, Hare Krsna, and now, with the publication of this Prasadam Cookbook, we hope that the whole world will feast in honor of the Supreme Lord. That will make this world like Vrndavana, the transcendental abode of Krsna, where Krsna, Balarama and the monkeys visit every kitchen with thieving intend and bless the devotees with pure love of God. (Dedication from The Hare Krsna Cookbook)

Vegetarian Health and Nutrition
From the book “The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking”
By Adiraja Dasa

“Can a vegetarian diet improve or restore health? Can it prevent certain diseases?

Advocates of vegetarianism have said yes for many years, although they didn’t have much support from modern science until recently. Now, medical researchers have discovered evidence of a link between meat-eating and such killers as heart disease and cancer, so they’re giving vegetarianism another look.

Since the 1960s, scientists have suspected that a meat-based diet is somehow related to the development of arteriosclerosis and heart disease. As early as 1961, the Journal of the American Medical Association said: “Ninety to ninety-seven percent of heart disease can be prevented by a vegetarian diet.” Since that time, several well-organized studies have scientifically shown that after tobacco and alcohol, the consumption of meat is the greatest single cause of mortality in Western Europe, the United States, Australia, and other affluent areas of the world.

In the Vedic scriptures it is stated that the Supreme Lord has provided ample varieties of food-stuffs for all living creatures and that one should take only that which is allotted to him by the Lord, not more. For Humanity the Lord has set aside simple foods such as grains, vegetables, fruit and milk products and He has requested that we offer Him such pure and nourishing foods. In this way, there are hundred and thousands of palatable dishes that may be prepared and then offered to Lord Krishna.

Listed below are some of the ingredients most commonly used in preparing Krsna prasadam.

Most of these ingredients are readily abailable from regular grocery stores. The items marked was asterisks would more likely be found at Chinese food stores or Indian specialty stores.

Note; There are of course many more key ingredients, but it is our humble attempt to present “The Hare Krsna Cookbook” the way it was written back in 1973. Next post will be on Spices, which are the jewels of cooking for Krsna.

We are going to begin a new series with recipies from the “Original” Hare KRSNA Cookbook, and will weekly post recipies from that wonderful book that most all of the early devotees learned to cook, for Lord Krishna from. The Hare KRSNA Cookbook was compiled by Krsna devi dasi and Sama devi dasi. We are eternaly grateful to these nice devotees, for they have helped us all on our path of devotional service (bhakti yoga).